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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. wind — moving air
  4. march — music
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. prune — to trim
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. march — the month
  10. kid — to tease
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. prune — to trim
  13. dip — to sink
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. wind — moving air
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. march — the month
  23. tube — the underground
  24. kid — child

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com